A Democratic Socialist Blog

Lost Faith In Union

The failure of 4-2 candidates in the Wisconsin recall election, display
that the people have shown their disappointment in the Labor Movement.
Public employees live well in the Union, but the Unions are an in the box,
high salary organ that frequently disappoint the people.

When I was a youngster, my father was in the Teamsters Union. He worked for
a packaging plant in Clifton NJ. We had Unions in our lives that mattered.
Once a year we had picnics and union families would meet They would preach
the Union gospel and we knew we had Unions on our side.

Than in the 1970’s Unions changed and they become more “Pro Boss”. Everyone
started suffering. Salaries declined for Union members, but the upper
echelon was discovered to make enormous salaries.

Than my mother who worked in a sweatshop, was in the Amalgamated Textile and
Clothing Workers Union. They treated their Union members like animals. They
would come to the shop and brag about the big steaks they would eat at the
casinos, their big cars. They would be wearing their gold bling.

Than the owner built stalls for the workers. The Union reps looked at the
workers and laughed that they looked like a bunch of monkeys. The Union was
eventually voted out.

Today Union rolls are down 90%.

It was Easy for Reagan to declare a class war. The same Unions who backed
him up, The AFL-CIO, are the same Unions he turned against. Un-employing
thousands of PATCO workers.

Thusly in Detroit William Wimpensinger, good friend of Michael Harrington,
declared he would be a watch dog in Detroit for the Auto Industry. Many lost
their jobs under Wimpensingers nose. Obviously the watch dog was sleeping on
the job.

America has a history of Union betrayal, so would the New Jersey and
Wisconsin AFL CIO rally the troops? They couldn’t because Unions are an
inside job.

In NJ The AFL CIO year after year supports Republican Congressman Frank
Lobiondo.

He supported H.R. 3246 would have outlawed the practice of “salting” by which building and construction trades union members “hire on” at non-union contracting companies with the intent to organize them. If this bill became law, workers could be fired simply for engaging in; what the employer perceived to be “pro-union” activities. This bill would have undermined the fundamental principle of our nation”s labor laws: workers have the right to organize free from management interference. The bill prohibited “salting” as an organizing tool, made single unit bargaining more difficult, and shifted NLRB case costs from the employer back to the Board. The bill passed by a vote of 202-200 on March 26. IBEW position on Official Roll Call Vote #78: OPPOSE (Yes = Wrong, No = Right).
Looking at the expenditures the IBEW rewarded him $10,000 in donations.
Mr Lobiondo is for the worker so much that when the AFL-CIO endorsed him-he voted for the Ergonomics bill, but afterword here is what Mr Lobiondo voted for this Bill
H.R. 987 was introduced by Representative Roy Blunt (R-MO), and would prohibit OSHA from promulgating any guideline or standard on ergonomics until the National Academy of Sciences completes a study. This has been a stall tactic for Congress for a number of years. Business complains that an ergonomic standard would force companies to redesign work stations and the cost of this would be too burdensome. It would cut back on injuries and worker’s compensation claims, as well as improve productivity. The House passed H.R. 987 by a vote of 217 to 209, August 3, 1999 with the support of Mr Lobiondo.